Proud of You
by ZeGreatM
Summary: It's a big day for the students of SFIT, one filled with excitement and new beginnings. But for Hiro Hamada, it's filled more with things like stress, fear, and memories he'd rather not have resurfacing. Why couldn't have someone else done this stupid speech! (One-shot)
AN: First fanfiction on this site! Yippee! :D This one's rather old, but I don't hate it too much yet, so what the heck, thought I'd post it. Hope you enjoy! Also, reviews and the like are suuuuper appreciated and will supply you with my undying gratitude.

* * *

Hiro stared fixedly at his notecards and sucked on his lower lip.

 _All I have to do is go through this darn speech one time. Just one time and I'll be alright._

He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to begin. Then closed it with a frustrated groan.

"It's no use, Aunt Cass! I'll never be able to do this speech. Ever! They're just going to have to get someone else to do it." He exclaimed, throwing himself onto the couch.

"No, no, no, Hiro, don't give up! You can do this, I know you can." Aunt Cass said from her seat on the other side of the room.

Hiro shook his head miserably.

"You have to at least go through it once before you give up. Remember how good you did with your SFIT presentation?"

"But that's nothing like this!" Hiro retorted, throwing his hands in the air. "If I mess this up, no one will ever forgive me. Honey Lemon, Wasabi, GoGo, Fred... They will all hate me."

Hiro dropped his notecards on the ground and buried his head in his hands.

"No one is going to hate you." Aunt Cass laughed, standing up from her chair and walking over to her nephew. She knelt down next to him and began picking up his scattered speech. "And you're not going to mess this up. You're going to be amazing, I promise you."

Hiro remained silent and didn't move from his position.

Aunt Cass quietly sighed, pushing back a graying strand of hair out of her face. Straightening the gathered notecards, she placed them on the nearest end table and settled down next to Hiro. She stared at the old carpet on the floor as she pursed her lips together thoughtfully.

"Hiro, I'm kind of thinking you're not really worried about your friends hating you. Maybe you're more worried about hating yourself if this all goes south." She looked over at Hiro questioningly.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh Hiro, you can't," Aunt Cass said, circling her arms around Hiro. "You can't do that to yourself over something so silly."

"It's not silly!" He cried, flinging his head up from it's downward position. He quickly turned away, but not before Aunt Cass saw the tears in his eyes.

"You're right. It's not." She said gently, arm still around Hiro's shoulders. "I know how important this is to you. But it really isn't the end of the world if you do mess up. Which you won't."

She gave his shoulders an encouraging shake. "And even if you do, you know who will still be proud of you?"

She waited for Hiro to reply. He nodded slowly, still unwilling to speak.

"I'll be proud of you, and your friends will be proud of you. But the one who'll be the proudest of us all is your brother. If Tadashi could see you now, he would be..."

She paused, lifting her gaze to the ceiling as she searched for the right word. "He would be exploding with pride! You always meant so much to him, Hiro, more than anything in the world. I know he's so happy for you, and so, _so,_ proud of you. You know that, right?"

Hiro glanced over at her and nodded.

"Do you really know?" She demanded, squeezing his body against hers and tousling his thick black hair.

"Yes, I know! I know!" He said, a smile tugging at his mouth as he pulled out of her grip. He finger combed his hair, glaring at her teasingly as he sniffed back his tears.

"Good thing." Aunt Cass said, smiling tenderly at him. She gave him another hug before handing him his notecards back.

"You'd better get to work." She urged. Hiro got up with a playful groan and took the offered notecards from Aunt Cass.

"Let's try this again." He said.

"Why are there so many people?" Hiro asked, eyes wandering restlessly over the enormous crowd assembled before him.

"Why wouldn't there be?" GoGo replied, putting a hand on her hip. "The showcase fire affected pretty much everyone in the entire city. I think that the grand re-opening is something they're going to want to see."

"Don't be so hard on him, GoGo. He's just nervous." Honey Lemon said, putting a hand on Hiro's head and smiling widely at him. He tried to smile back, but it ended up looking more like a grimace.

"You'll be fine, Hiro." Wasabi said, looking down at Hiro encouragingly.

"Yeah man, don't sweat it. You're going to be awesome up there." Fred added. He patted Hiro on the back.

"Thanks guys." Hiro croaked, trying to give them all a better smile.

The audience began to clap, and Hiro realized with a start that the speaker before him had finished.

"Thank you for that lovely speech, Professor Kantz." The announcer's voice echoed over the loudspeakers. "At this time we would like to ask Hiro Hamada to come to the stage and present the dedication speech."

Hiro's face paled. With shaking fingers, he straightened his suit jacket and pulled his notecards out of his pocket.

"Here it goes." He muttered, giving his friends a pleading glance. He so badly wanted one of them to jump up on the stage and do this speech for him. But no one was volunteering.

"Don't be such a sissy, Hiro." GoGo said, the sincerity in her eyes undermining her hard words.

Honey Lemon gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek. The rest of the team patted him on the back and offered a few hurried whispers of encouragement.

Hiro took a deep breath and after glancing back at his friends one more time, walked up the three steps that led to the raised platform.

He took another slow, deep breath to try and calm his fluttering nerves as he approached the podium. As he stood behind it, he couldn't help but notice it had been lowered to accommodate his height. He appreciated the thought, but he could feel the tips of his ears turning red in embarrassment and he thought he heard someone in the audience titter. This wasn't exactly the start he had been hoping for, but it was the one he had been expecting.

Aunt Cass sat in the front aisle in the center of the row. She gave him a thumbs up from her seat and mouthed the words, "You can do it."

Hiro settled the notecards of his speech on the stand as he timidly looked up at the rest of the audience. Hundreds of people stared back at him expectantly. Hiro gulped.

 _How in the world am I supposed to make a good impression on all of these people?_ He thought to himself, fear paralyzing him for a moment.

But then Aunt Cass' words came back to him. She had said that no matter what happened, she would still be proud of him, and his friends would too. And most importantly, so would Tadashi. In the end, it didn't matter what all of those other people thought as long as the people close to him were proud.

Clearing his throat, Hiro adjusted the microphone and began.

"My name is Hiro. Tadashi Hamada was my older brother. And in case you didn't know, this building is dedicated to him."

Hiro's voice rang out clearly over the sound system. Something about this made him feel a little more confident, and he continued.

"One year ago, the showcase hall for San Fransokyo Institute of Technology burned to the ground. Millions of dollars worth of tech burned with it, some of which was mine. But that wasn't the only thing the fire took.

"Everyone got out of the building safely aside from some smoke inhalation. Everyone, that is, except for one man. My brother, who wasn't even inside when the fire started, ran into the burning building to try and save this man's life. But then there was an explosion, and Tadashi..." Hiro's voice cracked.

"Tadashi didn't make it out."

He paused. Hiro took a shaky breath, furiously trying to blink the tears out of his eyes.

 _Don't break down, Hiro._ He told himself. _Just get through this._

"What my brother did was an act of heroism and selflessness that I can't even comprehend. Tadashi willingly gave himself up for someone else. That was how much he valued life. That was how brave and selfless he was. And this building is dedicated to him."

Hiro looked down at his notecards for what to say next. But what he had written down didn't feel right. He wrestled for with what to do, and made the split-second decision to speak from his heart.

"What I'm trying to say, is that the inventions and tech the students at this college are putting here, myself included, are going to affect people. Through our inventions, we have the opportunity to help people, to make a difference in the world. Some of you already have. Tadashi supported SFIT as much as he did because he believed in that. He believed with all his heart we could do that. And I believe it to."

Hiro stepped out from behind the podium. "So not only is this building dedicated to Tadashi, but also to the dreams of all the students here and the changes they're going to make in the world. This building is dedicated to their bravery, and their effort, and their endless hope. This building is dedicated to the future."

Hiro looked behind him and nodded at the workers standing on stage. They heaved on the ropes holding back the red curtain at the back of the stage to reveal the beginnings of the brand new SFIT showcase hall. Rising up on the side was a pillar of stone with a shining plaque on it. On that plaque were the words "Tadashi Hamada Building; dedicated to young men and women with the hearts of lions beating in their chests."

The crowd began to cheer and clap wildly and they all stood to their feet. Many of them were wiping tears from their eyes and Hiro looked at them in surprise. Never in all of the many different endings he had thought up in his head had he envisioned a reaction like this.

Aunt Cass caught Hiro's gaze and she smiled at him. Tears glistened in her proud eyes, and Hiro realized that she had never expected anything less. None of his friends had expected less either. All Aunt Cass did was nod at him, but Hiro understood what she meant. He smiled a real smile back at her and looked over at the showcase hall. Hiro knew now that they weren't the only ones who were proud of him.

He could almost feel a grinning Tadashi standing next to him, giving him a punch on the shoulder and saying, "Good job, Hiro. I knew you could do it."

Hiro smiled wistfully.

"Thanks Tadashi." He whispered.


End file.
